Pad for office machines



Jan. 9, 1968 J. D. ODONNELL PAD FOR OFFICE MACHINES Filed Nov. 26, 1965 INVENT JAMES 1;. 0'3 E ATTORN EYS' United States. Patent 3,362,666 PAD FOR OFFICE MACHINES James David ODonnell, Jackson Heights, N.Y., assignor to Pres-to-line Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 509,738 5 Claims. (Cl. 248-22) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOS The invention contemplates a cushioning pad for an office machine, the pad comprising a bed mat of non-skid, resilient, noise and shock damping material, a relatively hard protective cover with turned-down margins overlapping the borders of the bed mat but terminating substantially short of the bottom of the mat, and a filler element sandwiched between the bed mat and the cover. The damping effect may be supplemented by pneumatic damping action, provided by constricted communication between the atmosphere and an interior air space, the latter being defined between the cushioning material and the cover.

This invention relates to noise and shock damping pads for oflice machines including typewriters, desk top calculators, and the like.

The general aim of the invention is to provide a durable pad assembly functioning better than known pads to damp noise and shock vibrations of an office machine in operation. Preferably, the subject pad is an elongated unit, and a pair of such units are disposed in generally parallel positions under the base of the office machine.

The subject pad involves cushioning material Protected by a cover of relatively hard material and formed without locating recesses for feet of the supported oflice machine; so that the pad will not be limited to a particular spacing and size of the machine feet. A feature of the novel pad construction is that the upper surface of the pad cover has bonded thereon planar rest pieces for feet of an oflice machine, the rest pieces being made of easily compressible friction material to prevent creep of the machine relative to the pad cover.

Another feature of the novel pad is that its cover is formed at least at one side with corrugations to serve as cleaning means for an eraser when the eraser is rubbed across the corrugations.

The invention also contemplates a pad assembly constructed to supplement the damping effect of cushioning material by pneumatic damping action. For this purpose, an interior air space is left between the cushioning material and the cover and constricted communication is provided between the interior air space and the atmosphere. During the compression phases of machine vibrations, air will be expelled from the interior air space and during the relaxation phases of the vibrations air will be drawn into the interior air space. The pad thus incorporates pneumatic means functioning as the equivalent of an air dashpot to damp vibrations of the machine resting on the pad. Preferably, communication between the interior air space of the pad and the atmosphere is provided by small orifices or air ports in the pad cover. It is preferred, further, that the air ports be formed as slits in the ridges of the eraser cleaning corrugations of the cover, so that the edges of the slits will improve the scouring and cleaning effect on an eraser rubbed across the corrugated area.

The novel pad is made of simple parts easy to assemble. It includes an elongated bed mat of resilient, non-skid material such as sponge rubber, a relatively hard protective cover with turned-down margins, and a single filler strip of sound-deadening material sandwiched between the cover and the bed mat and extending from end to end of 3,362,656 Patented Jan. 9, 1968 the underside of the cover top. An interior air space is defined by the borders of the filler strip, the turned-down margins of the cover, and the bed mat. At least one turneddown margin of the cover is formed with the eraser cleaning corrugations and the crests of the corrugations are sliced away to form air ports communicating with the interior air space. Firmly superimposed on the top of the cover are strips of friction material to serve as non-skid rests for feet of the oflice machine.

Other objects and various further features of novelty and invention will be pointed out or will occur to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying figures in said drawings, which show, for illustrative purposes only, a preferred form of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pair of the subject pads as disposed in the width of the oflice machine;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of a pair of the pads as disposed in the breadth of the supported oflice machine;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the subject pad unit and is obviously drawn on a larger scale than in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view, looking at that long side of the pad which is formed with the eraser cleaning ribs or corrugations; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sections, respectively, along lines 5-5 and 6-6 of FIG. 3.

The illustrative pad P is of elongated rectangular form and a pair of the pads is used for supporting an oflice machine, for example the typewriter indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The pair of pads may be disposed either as in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, depending on which disposition is found more suitable and convenient. In the FIG. 1 disposition, the

pads extend crosswise under the typewriter, with one pad under the rear feet and the other pad :under the front feet of the typewriter, In FIG. 2, the pads are disposed with one under the left hand pair of typewriter feet and the other pad under the right hand pair of feet. The pad length is such that when the pad is in the FIG. 1 disposition, it extends past each side of the typewriter. Also, the narrower dimension of the pad is such that when the pad is in the FIG. 2 disposition one long side of the pad will be completely outside the base of the typewriter.

Each pad comprises an elongated rectangular bed layer or mat 19 made of sound and shock damping resilient material; for example, sponge rubber. Such mat has a non-skid texture adapted for firm adherent, frictional rest on a desk top, or other supporting surface, so as to inhibit creep of the pad under the influence of vibrations of the machine mounted on the pad. The pad further comprises an oblong cover or housing 11 with outwardly sloped and downwardly bent margins which reach down into close bounding contiguity with the edges of the bed mat 15 but terminate an appreciable distance above the bottom of the mat, so that a substantial thickness of the mat protrudes below the cover, The cover is made of relatively hard but flexible material, such as Royalite or the like, capable of being pressed or molded to shape and having a texture impermeable to water, cleaning fluid, or oil. Sandwiched between the cover 11 and the bed mat 10 is an elongated filler 12 of substantially inelastic sound-deadening material, such as styrofoam or gypsum board or the equivalent. The filler 12 reaches from one end to the other of the underside of the cover top but does not reach to the downwardly sloped margins of the cover, leaving an internal air space 13 around the edges of the filler, the air space being effectively closed at the bottom by the bed mat 10'.

At least one long side margin of the cover 11 is formed with ribbed or corrugated portions 14 to serve as eraser cleaning means. When the pads P are arranged as in FIG. 1, the front pad should be oriented with the corrugated side facing the operator. The corrugations 14 of the front pad are then conveniently accessible to the operator for service as eraser cleaning means. To clean an eraser, the operator will draw it one or more times across the corrugations. When the pads are arranged as in FIG. 2, they should be placed with the corrugated sides facing outwardly so that the corrugations will be fully exposed and accessible for eraser scouring service. The filler strip 12 is cemented to the underside of the top of cover 11 and the bed mat is cemented to the bottom of the filler strip. The top surface of the cover 11 may be formed at spaced longitudinal locations with corrugations 11' serving as creep-resisting rests for the feet of a supported office machine. Cemented on the top surface of the cover are planar strips 15 of easily compressible material, such as cork or soft rubber, to serve as the creep-inhibiting surface of rests for feet of the supported office machine.

The crests of the corrugations 14 are sliced away to provide small orifices 16 which communicate with the interior air space 13. The abrupt edges of the orifices 16 improve the eraser cleaning and scouring action of the corrugations 14 when the eraser is rubbed across the corrugations. The principal purpose, however, of the orifices 16 is to serve as constricted air ports, through which air is expelled from and sucked into the air space 13, air expulsion occurring during the pad-compressing phases of the supported machine vibrations and air intake occurring during the relaxation phases of the machine vibrations. The air space 13 and the ports 16 thus constitute pneumatic damping means which functions in the manner of an air dashpot to mufile noise and shock vibrations produced during operation of the machine resting on the pad. The pneumatic damping action of the pad supplements the noise and shock damping effect of the bed mat 10 and the filler layer 12.

It will be seen that I have disclosed an improved pad structure for ofiice machines. While the invention has been described in connection with the preferred form shown, it will be understood that modifications may be made without departing from the invention as defined in the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A cushioning pad for an oflice machine such as a typewriter or a desk top calculator or the like, the pad comprising a bed mat of non-skid, resilient, noise and shock damping material, a relatively hard protective cover with turned-down margins overlapping the borders of the bed mat but terminating substantially short of the bottom of the mat, a filler element sandwiched between the bed mat and the cover and underlying substantially the entire area of the under surface of the top of the cover, the filler being made of relatively inelastic sound damping material, and planar pieces of easily compressible, nonslip material bonded onto the top of the pad cover in locations to serve as creep-inhibiting rests for feet of the supported office machine.

2. A cushioning pad for oflice machines such as typewriters or desk top calculators or the like, the pad comprising noise and shock cushioning material and a relatively hard-textured cover having outwardly sloped and downwardly turned margins bounding the cushioning material and leaving an interior air space between the sloped margins and the cushioning material, at least one of said margins being provided with orifices communicating with the interior air space to enable air to be expelled from the interior air space during the pad-compression phases of the supported machine vibrations and to be drawn into the interior air space during the relaxation phase of the machine vibrations, whereby the pad affords pneumatic damping of the machine vibrations to supplement the damping effect of the cushioning material, said cushioning material comprising a bed mat of resilient nonskid material and a filler unit' sandwiched between the bed mat and the under surface of the top of the pad cover, the turned-down margins of the cover contiguously bordering the edges of the bed mat but terminating short of the bottom of the mat, the filler unit having its edges spaced from the sloped margins of the cover, whereby said interior air space is defined by the sloped margins, the borders of the filler unit and the bed mat.

3. An accessory pad for office machines such as typewriters or desk top calculators or the like, comprising a pad of noise and shock cushioning material and a relatively hard-textured cover having outwardly sloped and downwardly turned margins bounding the cushioning material and leaving an interior air space between the sloped margins and the cushioning material, at least one of said sloped margins being provided with orifices communicating with the interior air space to enable air to be expelled from the interior air space during the pad-compression phases of the supported machine vibrations and to be drawn into the interior air space during the relaxation phase of the machine vibrations, whereby the pad affords pneumatic damping of the machine vibrations to supplement the dampening effect of the cushioning material, said cushioning material comprising a bed mat of resilient nonskid material and a filter unit sandwiched between the bed mat and the under surface of the top of the pad cover, the turned-down margins of the cover contiguously bordering the edges of the bed mat but terminating short of the bottom of the mat, the filler unit having its edges spaced from the sloped margins of the cover, whereby said interior air space is defined by the sloped margins, the borders of the filler unit and the bed mat, the orifices being located at an elevation above the bed mat, said one sloped margin being formed at the orifices with eraser-cleaning corrugations, with said orifices being slits at the outwardly projecting limits of said corrugations, whereby eraser offal entering said slits will be received in the interior air space and will drop out of the path of intake and expulsion air, so that said pneumatic damping may proceed relatively unaffected by the degree of eraser cleaning.

4. A cushioning pad for an oflice machine such as a typewriter or a desk-top calculator or the like, the pad comprising a bed mat of non-skid, resilient, noise and shock damping material, a relatively hard protective cover with turned-down margins overlapping the borders of the bed mat but terminating substantially short of the bottom of the mat, and a filler element sandwiched between the bed mat and the cover and underlying substantially the entire area of the under surface of the top of the cover, the filler being made of relatively inelastic sound-damping material, the top of said cover being formed with surface corrugations in locations to serve as creep-inhibiting rests for feet of the supported ofiice machine.

5. A cushioning pad according to claim 4, and including non-slip material bonded onto the top of the pad cover at the corrugated locations thereof.

References Cited JOHN PETO, Primary Examiner. 

